Sunset on the Window Panes

by Walter Macken

A story set in the Irish village of Boola featuring a wilful young man who always leaves trouble and harm in his wake. From the author of THE BOGMAN.

Genres: Irish Literature

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Walter Macken was an Irish writer of short stories, novels and plays.

Originally an actor, principally with the Tadhbhearc in Galway, and The Abbey Theatre, he played lead roles on Broadway in MJ Molloy's The King of Friday’s Men and his own play Home is the Hero. He also acted in films, notably in Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow. With the success of his third book, Rain on the Wind, he devoted his time to writing. His plays include Mungo’s Mansion (1946) and Home is the Hero (1952).

His novels include I Am Alone (1949); Rain on the Wind (1950); The Bogman (1952); and the historical trilogy Seek the Fair Land (1959), The Silent People (1962) and The Scorching Wind (1964). His short stories were collected in The Green Hills (1956), God Made Sunday (1962) and The Coll Doll and other Stories (1962).

He also published a number of books for children, including Island of the Great Yellow Ox (1966); and Flight of the Doves (1968), which was adapted for the cinema.

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walter Macken is probably my favorite writer because he is simple yet profound, subtle and yet powerful. I believe there are three or four occasions when I ended a book with a feeling of a sudden unexpected wind blowing open the shutters of my deepest self. This is one of them.
As a writer Macken fascinates me because his characters are imbued with a sense of proximity or immediacy: like you would look up all of the sudden and there would Joseph or Martha...any of them really...there would they be. How does he do it? Reading is a sheer marvel and a pleasure that is doubly infused with knowing you are feeding and challenging your existential perspectives.

I had the good fortune to layer this reading over a background of extensive reading and a fascination with saints' lives, although this is not at all necessary in order to appreciate the brilliance of this masterpiece. This book troubled me profoundly and still a week maybe two weeks later I'm still unable to shake it and it's implications of human nature...as well as the unimaginably vast shadow cast by God's existence and love.

The title and its beauty is now one that I doubt I will ever forget when I learned of its inspiration. I find it turning in my head and I wonder...I wonder who I am, where I am going and...and...who would I be in this story? That is perhaps the most troubling. Macken can illuminate the most mysterious and paradoxical corners of our human nature
that we are most comfortable shuffling under the rug. And yet, at what cost do we do so? Oh this book, this book.

[Heather Voorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up Sunset on the Window Panes at a used bookstore while on vacation and ended up reading the whole thing on the plane ride home. I couldn’t put it down.

Macken does a wonderful job capturing the people, scenery, and everyday life of Ireland. The characters felt authentic, and the setting was so vividly drawn that it felt like being right there alongside them. A perfect vacation read, and it definitely left me wanting to explore more of his books.

[Thomas Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written with a few great characters to whom you really feel very connected. There’s some real tragedies in here that I think maybe sting more because they are so unceremonious, so almost run of the mill. Great little read